Opinion

Creative destruction leads to new technology cycles and benefits us all, says an editorial in Mint. "Last week, Japan's Funai Electric announced the inevitable — it was producing the last batch of the video cassette recorders (VCRs) using the video home system (VHS). With the announcement, the digital era — with its CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs and torrents — drove the last nail on the coffin of analogue technology... The significance of the VCR being phased out is thus not restricted to the entertainment industry. It points to a larger picture: to stay relevant, both machines and humans must upgrade and update. Innovation is an integral part of productivity and growth," it says.

Irom Sharmila's decision to call off her fast is as powerful as her 16-year struggle. We need to understand what she's telling us, writes Shiv Visvanathan in The Hindu. "While concluding the fast, she made two statements of hope. She decided to stand for elections and she decided to get married to her Goan-British boyfriend, Desmond Coutinho. It is the double-edged power of her announcement that needs to be celebrated. Ms. Sharmila's statement is the very embodiment of normalcy, of the everydayness that she fought for 16 years," he writes.

The concept of private members' bill is central to a deliberative democracy, writes SN Sahu in The Indian Express. "Introduction of more private members' bills augurs well for our democracy. These are healthy indicators of constructive and deliberative legislative behaviour which are categorical imperatives for parliamentary democracy," he says.